To live this life will require faith, love and courage.
Teach him that for every enemy, there is a friend.
Teach him if you can that 10 cents earned is of far more value than a dollar found, it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat. Teach him to learn how to gracefully lose, and enjoy winning when he does win.
Teach him to be gentle with gentle people, tough with tough people. Steer him away from envy. Teach him the secret of quiet laughter and how to laugh when he is sad, that there is no shame in tears. There can be glory in failure and despair in success. Teach him to scoff at cynics.
Teach him if you can the wonders of books, but also give time to ponder the extreme mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on a green hill. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if all tell him they are wrong.
Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd. Teach him to listen to everyone, but also to filter all that he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.
Teach him to sell his talents and brains to the highest bidder but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul. Let him have the courage to be impatient and patience to be brave. Teach him to have sublime faith in himself, because then only he will always have sublime faith in mankind, in God.
